Joint Personal Log - LtCmdr Waterhouse & Lt Atarah - "Through the Looking Glass" pt. II of II

Posted on Thu Dec 18th, 2014 @ 11:46am by Commander Amelia Waterhouse & Danielle Atarah

2,481 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: All Hallows’

"Obviously I can't make any official agreement, but if you're going above the board enough that it takes serious digging to find which rules you're breaking, or Kahless forgive you, you break the rules to help people as I know you're inclined to do-" Amelia smirked at that comment. "That should be enough to keep Intel happy enough to agree. I can put you in contact with someone who does have the authority to make such a deal."

Dani made a face, exaggerated, though her eyes shone with amusement. "You mean I wasted my time talking to you? I thought you're all this.. you know... big shot now. Ranks and everything." She chuckled at her own joke.

They could always offer another deal if the circumstances required it, but Dani didn't think that will happen any time soon. The main concern was that intel would take advantage of the disarray in the organization — however temporary — and make its move now, ruining everything. That may not have justified a marriage to Starfleet Intelligence, but it certainly warranted a one-night stand.

"Whatever happens from now on, we'll handle it. We're willing to give you names now, because the people we're going to name are asshats with really bad intentions, and some of them already have what they need to carry those intentions out. And we also have the added convenience of blaming it all on Cardello." Her lips twitched in satisfaction.

"You do what you need to do, but I have to tell you, Waterbucket, I'm not excited about talking to anyone from your merry band of dark brotherhood. I'm sure you know it all by now, but my experience with Starfleet Inelligence is a bunch of levels below disastrous." Her voice changed, a fair bit of poison injected to it, tainting her eyes with anger. "I don't trust them from rogue Orion Syndicate operatives on drugs, and I will be damned if I ever trust any of them ever again. Even their good intentions tend to drown in layers of bureacracy and politics that I am not going to deal with ever again." She finished, her eyes intent on Amelia's, her teeth clenching tight. "I've spent four weeks in a detention facility because of one of your friends' idea of common good, Pond. As far as I'm concerned, the bridges are so burnt, they've crumbled to ashes." She hissed, all her amusement, all the lightness, gone.

"I'm not here because I trust Starfleet Intelligence. I'm here because I trust you."

"And I'll make sure that you're in touch with someone I trust the judgment of. Not someone who's going to follow procedure, and not worry about the casualties as long as it serves the greater good... but someone who I trust to make the same judgments I would," Amelia assured her friend. "And if something happens to cause it to backfire, I will be there to help clean up, though I'll make every effort to make sure it doesn't come to that."

Dani stared for a moment, considering, not entirely happy with the prospect of exposing herself to — and dealing with — a third party. She mentally weighed her trust levels of the organization she disliked versus the trust she gave her friend. She sighed, finally. "Fine. I'll do it your way. Propose this to someone you trust. Remind whoever it is that while we get the benefit of a clean slate, we can completely live without it; we can clean house ourselves, though it will be quite a bit of a hassle. Intel is the one getting the bigger straw here." She had no intention of putting Zett in the clutches of the fleet, potentially or practically. "Also, if we get busted, all bets are off." Her eyes remained on Amelia's; her expression mellowed somewhat, no longer holding such intense anger, but it was still serious, frank, and honest. "We might look like small fish to you, but I don't think anyone wants us on their bad side right now. Especially not after what happened on Earth."

"Oh no doubt. What you can do, when you choose to put your mind to it, is impressive. Getting on your bad side is never a good idea." Amelia sat forward, resting her arms on her knees. "So are you in charge of this reborn syndicate now?"

Dani blinked, surprised, then laughed. "Me? In charge?" she giggled, then looked back at Amelia. "Can you imagine me at the head of an organization?" she snorted at the image, her good mood returning. "No, I'm just the brains behind the boss. Well, she has brains too, to her credit. We agreed Kal's the best choice. Zett," she added, not sure if Amelia remembered the woman's full name, or abbreviated version. "She's pretty known throughout, and after what Smith and I have done, she's got support both internally and externally." Her smile expanded again, boasting, her ego resuming its natural inflated state. "So I guess that makes me the woman behind the big honcho now. Wow. How far have I fallen..." she smirked.

"Fallen into a position you are well suited for," Amelia returned with a head shake. "So, what did you do, anyways?"

The smugness returned to Dani's face. "We produced a bit of a show on Cardello's behalf. You know, the irony is that we really expected having to lie to everyone, to fake evidence and plant evil plots. We didn't really need to do any of that. All we had to do is show everyone who the man really is. Our business partners weren't all too happy to see how he was playing each of them for more profit, then turning around to sell them out to the other. That was a tricky one to show, though, since most of them were interested in killing him right then and there," her tone lowered, turned sinister, "I have to say, we were considering letting them. But anyways, the trickier part was gaining internal support, but he solved that issue for us too. I wasn't the first — or the last — that he sold out to other syndicates or... well," she smirked, "you."

She leaned back again and smiled smugly once more. "But the most trickiest part in there was to plant the seed for Zett. When we were done with the whole plan, our business partners demanded her as the new boss, and our support inside the organization crushed practically any other potential claim. Smith and I did that, probably the only thing we could ever completely agree about. Have you met Smith? He's a meathead goon with a mob complex, but he's a softy inside. Okay, maybe not a softie, but there's something beating in that muscly chest of his. You'll probably get along."

"You sound like you almost have a crush on him," Amelia teased with a playful shove at Dani's shoulder. Her smile was a little melancholy though. Dani seemed happy with this outcome, but it meant that Amelia wouldn't get to see her that often... just when it had seemed they were going to get time together again. She was happy to see her friend happy though.

Dani snorted, "Ha, a crush on Smith. That'll be the day." She chuckled, picked up her cup and finished the last of the tea, looking at Amelia. "You know I can't really come back, right? I don't belong here anymore. I don't think I ever have, really. The only thing that made this match work was the people, and you... well, you really shouldn't have to deal with my shenanigans now that you're a bigshot XO," she smirked.

"Without people like you around, I'm going to be bored to tears as XO. It's all hurry up and wait, and paperwork. I kinda miss field work, but I won't ditch Rochelle even if I decide it's worth closing the door for non-Intel promotions," Amelia admitted with a sigh.

"Well, Waterbucket, you're always invited to join us, even just for a little spin around the block. Like The Doctor's companion," she grinned at Amelia, "only without the timey wimey stuff. At least not on purpose."

"Oh but the timey wimey stuff's the best bit." Amelia giggled. "I appreciate the offer. If I ever need air, I may hold you to it."

Dani nodded. "Good. You better. You're not getting rid of me that quickly. Oh, speaking of which," she reached into her jacket and searched her inner pocket, then made a face, and switched to searching the opposite pocket, plucking a small round black button. "Ah, here it is," she handed it over, "I've had some time to work on a bit of a more permanent holo encryption method. You can use that to holla' my way. Of course, the holo program will still work, if you prefer Bugs Bunny to do it for you." She grinned.

"Actually, if you could yank that aspect of the program out, so it'll let me take other people in..." Amelia said, a hopeful smile directed at her friend. "The scans of the Grand Canyon you got are amazing... I've taken to running in the program. And the bar's a hoot, I just don't want the wrong person stumbling into it tucked in with my other programs." She accepted the black button from Dani, and it disappeared into a pocket on her pajama pants.

Dani's smile expanded. "I'm glad you like it. The bar is one of my favorite program. I took a copy of it over to our holodecks too. The fix won't really be necessary, the little backdoor won't be activated for anyone but you and Ivanova anyways, but I can do that. I'll make sure you have the fix in a few days." She leaned back again and stretched. "You'll let me know when you get a response, yes? Don't delay too long. When we're done with the reorganization, we'll start sorting out the external stuff and by then it will be too late, we won't really need to deal."

"As soon as you disappear in your puff of engineer ninja smoke, I'll be on the comm, I promise," the red-head insisted. "So, what will it take to make Vindicator a regular stop for your blackmarket tea smuggling ring?" She winked, leaning over to nudge at Dani with her elbow.

Dani chuckled, "you flatter me, Waterbucket, but to be honest, this," she leaned forward to lift the little bag, "is actually perfectly legal. We're co-owners of a couple of fields in India. Don't tell anyone, though. It's much sexier to think it's some shady contraband," she grinned and tossed the bag back at Amelia.

"As for your invitation, well," she looked around pointedly, "I kinda like this boat, and regardless of the pawn you'll insist I go through with your shady folk, I prefer doing my business with you. I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing me relatively often. You might even get tired of me," she exclaimed, "not that that will stop me."

"If I haven't thrown you out the airlock yet, I don't foresee myself getting tired of you," Amelia dismissed with an exaggerated eyeroll. "And if it'll help, I can sit in on the conversation as a mediator... if you think you'll need it. If nothing else, to translate from ghost to regular speak."

"Hm, It's not the language I'm worried about, it's the attitude," Dani muttered, making a face, "We're willing to compromise, but I'm no one's pet. Let's hope whoever I end up talking to remembers that. You ghosty folk tend to view everyone as a player in some grandiose game. Gotta be tiring. It's definitely tiring for us pawns," she smirked.

"Everyone's a pawn in someone's game, even us ghosts — active or not," Amelia returned with a sigh. "The trick has always been, and will continue to be, figuring out how to break the rules so you don't get swept up with the lemmings. I know you're smart enough, when the need arises. I just wish you hadn't been forced to pay the piper for that lesson the way you did."

"Pay the piper," Dani narrowed her eyes, still smiling. "You mean, what? Leaving the fleet? Heh," she huffed, "This has been brewing for a while, really. If it wasn't now, it would've been sooner or later. In any case I prefer being the player rather than the pawn whenever I possibly can." She winked. "There's no better player than a civilian player."

"No, I-" Amelia started to protest, but changed her mind. If she failed to make it clear she was actually referencing the incident that lead to Dani's healthy mistrust of Intel, then it was probably for the better ­— no real need to bring that up again. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to miss you, but this is very obviously not where you want, need, to be. Just take care of yourself, okay?"

For a moment, Dani didn't answer, examining her friend carefully, her ever present smile softening. She pressed her lips together and nodded, finally, reaching her arms towards Amelia across the sofa. "You do the same, oh bigshot Ex-Oh. I'll miss you too. You just let me know when you're near Earth, will ya? Tea's on me."

"The goal is to be there for Christmas and New Years, while they finish overhauling Vindicator after the mess the damn Romulans left her in," Amelia explained. "Promise me you'll crash our Christmas party?"

Dani grinned. "Can I bring a plus one?"

"If I don't get to exchange witty barbs with Zett and meet this Smith you don't have the crush on, there will be words... Probably in Klingon and Orion, the sort that make some mothers blush." Amelia winked and pulled Dani into a tight hug. "And tell Zett if she can't keep you out of trouble you can't get yourself out of, she'll be answering to me."

"That will definitely be interesting to watch," Dani chuckled within the embrace and squeezed. "Count on me crashing in," she pulled back, smiled, and then rose with a huff, straightining her jacket. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave. The Bristol's crew is waiting, and they're getting antsy when they sit idle. I guess I'll see you soon, but you can contact me without waiting now," she gestured, smiled, and reached her right hand to the bracelet on the left.

"Covert beam in and beam out, huh?" Amelia clicked her tongue and shook her head, receiving Dani's trademark grin for her troubles. Then a puff of ninja smoke, followed by the sparkle and whine of transporters spirited Dani away and Amelia giggled as she waved her hand to dissipate the smoke.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lt Commander Amelia Waterhouse
Executive Officer
USS Vindicator, NCC-78213-E

Danielle Atarah
Cardello Syndicate
Sol System

 

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